Funky Friday Splashers shed gear for charity

Tyson Yates
Journalist
Having spent the last two years living and working in Scotland, Tyson was excited to swap cold for the coast in 2014. He studied a degree in Communications and Media Studies in Brisbane but not before spending most of his life growing up in a rural town in Northern New South Wales.

THE NAME alone is enough to turn heads, but the Funky Friday Splashers are now making waves outside the water as they put the final touches on their first charity calendar.

The social swimming group takes to the water all year round so perhaps it's fitting they celebrate all 12 months of the year with a series of photos involving 12 of the club's members.

"This is actually the first time we've done something like this," said organiser and Splasher's member Louise McDonald.

"We are hoping to have the calendar out by the end of October. We had all of the photos done last weekend."

The money raised from the calendars will be donated to local organisation Hervey Bay Community Access Association, with businesses pitching in to sponsor pages while photographer David Ainslie donated his time and expertise to the cause.

"I was talking to a friend who works for the organisation and it got me think why don't we do a fundraiser and swing some money back to a local organisation," Ms McDonald said. "We just put the offer out there to whoever wanted to participate."

The calendars will be made available in the coming weeks and will be sold around the community in time for Christmas.

While the Funky Friday Splasher's aren't sure how much money the project is set to raise, Ms McDonald said there is already talk of another calendar in the future.

A member of the Funky Friday Splashers poses for the fun fundraising calendar.Contributed